Rev. E.L. Crump: Hypnosis in Religion

Religion and hypnosis have been inextricably interwoven from their beginnings but neither would dare openly recognize the existence of the other within the fabric of its being. This would be just like the warp and the woof of the cloth each denying that they had any connection with the other since they are woven perpendicularly to each other, or in opposite directions. But just as the cloth could not exist without the warp and the woof neither can man's religion exist without hypnosis. Religion is the greatest hypnotizing agent or influence in the world. It always has been, is now and ever shall be, and unless a person understands the basic principle of hypnosis he will ever be enslaved to his religion instead of allowing his religion to free him from enslavement. In nearly every age, however, religion has consistently denied any relation with hypnosis. With all due respect, however, to religious leaders this denial has not been done maliciously but out of sheer ignorance of the principles governing both religion and hypnosis. Even today the majority of the great religions of the world will deny any connection with hypnosis and would viciously fight me for calling attention to that connection. Nevertheless the search in man's mind for truth will eventually lead all great religions not only to see this connection but to make use 0Â£ it in the advancement 0Â£ their work. It appears to me that the big battle in the fight with reference to hypnosis will be waged between the medical profession on one side which claims to have a monopoly upon scientific advancements in the field of healing and the religious professions on the other side which claims to have a monopoly upon the working of the inner man. Both of these battle with each other because they do not understand the real truth with which they are dealing. When two persons or groups of people that are earnestly seeking the truth disagree, then the truth that they are seeking hasn't yet been found. Both religion and medicine have always, are now, and always will be dealing with the principles of hypnosis whether they recognize it or lay claim to it or not. The combination of conditions in the average religious service is very conducive to hypnotic effects upon the congregation. Scores or even hundreds 0Â£ male and female voices sing together and establish thereby a condition of harmony between the members of the group. The rhythmic marching cadence or the slow sweet meditative melodies of the music coupled with the atmosphere of fragrance from the flowers, beautiful suggestive symbols, and the elaborate decorations of the church interior, the subdued lights and flickering candles, colorful windows, comfortable seats filled with worshipers dressed in their "Sunday Best" these and many other influences exert an effect nothing short of hypnotic on the participants, interesting them and lifting them out of their self-consciousness and bringing pleasing effects to them physically, mentally and spiritually. The clergyman, perhaps without even being aware of it at all, uses all the arts of the hypnotist in getting "en rapport" with his audience. He uses quartets or choirs composed of male and female voices to help him induce a condition of receptivity. He has the audience sing together certain moving hymns and repeat together certain rituals, creeds or responsive readings. Then the people are bound together again in oneness of thought through the contributions they make to a common unifying cause in their offering, which perhaps is followed by a female soloist's rendition. All of these conditions create an atmosphere which causes the individual member to forget himself and his surroundings; and he becomes an open vessel to receive the suggestions offered by the orator in the pulpit who has the opportunity for a period of from a half-hour to an hour of presenting any ideas or suggestions that he may choose. These ideas thus presented may be either beneficial or harmful to the listener depending upon the degree of sympathetic interest and love the speaker has for his congregation, and the breadth and depth of his understanding of truth and life. Man is by nature a religious being and has in all ages been so. (He may deny this even with oaths and curses because he does not understand himself; yet little does he realize that with his very profanity he recognizes the Infinite Power of a Being who has ability far beyond the human to send either curses or blessings.) Man is by nature a seeker after truth (it's apart of his reasoning ability), and everyone seeking answers to the riddles of life must either have a philosophy of his own or be bound down by the creeds or dogmas of some religion which is trying to mold him according to its own fixed ideas. People, therefore, should neither be praised nor blamed for their religious beliefs and acts, for, as a rule, they are largely creatures of circumstance definitely related to their heredity, environment and educational experiences. (Jesus said, "I judge him not."- John 12:47.) If it were not for the principle of hypnosis operating in the minds of people there could be no religion, no church, no single congregation. The minister or priest or rabbi or whatever name is given to the leader of the religious group must of necessity be the operator or the originator, and just to the extent that the members of the congregation give their attention and become listeners concentrating upon the message of their leader, do they allow him to become the operator and they in turn become the subjects. He is the originator and they are the executive part of the combined church personality. The ideas he drives into his listeners are expressed then through the combined body of the leader, the congregation, the church facilities, the community, etc., as the medium of expression. The leader becomes the king, the listeners become his subjects, and just to the extent that they become his subjects they are unable and unwilling to challenge or question or even think about or reason upon the statements made by their operator. Just as in olden times a subject realized that he would have his head cut off if he questioned the mandates of his king, so in like manner symbolically the religious subject today feels that his head would be cut off (his reason dethroned or killed) if he challenged the reasoning of his religious dictator. It is because man has retained a part of his originative or reasoning faculty that in every age he has to some extent challenged the dictates of another to reason for him. This accounts for all the great religious splits that have happened down through the centuries, such as the break of Martin Luther, the break of John Wesley, and in our modern day and time the splitting up of the Christian religion into hundreds of varying sects, denominations, cults, etc. Each time, however, a leader breaks away from the accepted domination of another he then in turn generally gathers together a few followers whom he can then direct with his own changed ideas. Without realizing it he becomes another hypnotic operator who failed to respond fully to the hypnotic ideas of his predecessor. Not realizing, however, that's what he broke away from, he proceeds to do the very same thing to a group who will accept him as their leader Such is the course of religion through the ages. Whenever one person gets enough wisdom to become a leader he unknowingly or ignorantly - even though very sincerely and devotedly - proceeds to enslave a group who will listen to him to become his followers and adopt the tenants of his reasoning. They continue to follow him until at length someone in this new group cannot go all the way with him and breaks off with other new ideas - the result of his own human reasoning ability - to form another group of those who will listen to him and later become enslaved to his ideas. Thus the cycle of religion continues to evolve in every age. The basic urge in every human personality, the one deep, sincere longing of every soul is to find God, or the Unknown Creative Spirit that created, rules, sustains, and orders the universe - whatever be the name assigned to this Power. Since every man is seeking this Power and since he can be put into direct touch with that Power that is within him in a process which is absolutely the same in every way as the principle of hypnosis, then it seems high time that man were made aware of this deep seated principle within his own being. When a minister asks his congregation to pray with him, whether he tells them to or not, it is generally understood that they will assume a relaxed position, not thinking but wholly listening, and concentrating upon the words of the minister. In nearly every instance they are asked or automatically know that they should close their eyes and bow their heads. The whole set-up is ideal for hypnosis. The founders of every religion and the religious leaders of every age have recognized a Great Power and have given it many names. Jesus taught that this Power, which He called The Father, was within and could be directed by man, and He even went so far as to say the things which He did and even greater things could be done by His followers (John 14:12). Jesus also taught that man could become one with this Power (John 17 :21-23) and in becoming one he could direct or release it. In Luke 17:21, it reads: the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand - it is here now to him who understands. Behold, the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Since every sincere soul is seeking to find that Kingdom of Heaven, that is the sincere and only longing of his heart. No matter what other longing he may think he has, all his longings are subsidiary to this one great urge to find God within. His longings for a friend, a mate, a loved one, liquor , sex, or what not, is only his intense desire to find the Power that is able to express itself in all those manifestations which attract him. The easiest way a person may quickly understand himself, his deep longing, and then find the answer to that longing, is through an understanding of hypnosis; and whether he recognizes it as such or calls it by this name is immaterial.

Hypnosis had been practiced for thousands of years by people not knowing they were practicing it long before Braid ever gave it the name in an attempt to explain Mesmer's method less than 200 years ago. In every walk of life people are practicing it every day without naming it. Parents hypnotize their children to certain concepts of living, eat in g, clothing, religion, etc. Schools, churches, business houses, newspapers, radios, T - V, magazines, are constantly filling the mind of the listening public with ideas which the y accept without reasoning Whenever anyone is placed in a position to accept an idea without reasoning upon it, he is hypnotized to that extent; and all hypnosis is always listed in a matter of the extent, the degree, the stage or the percentage of the reasoning mind which is given over to the operator.

The business houses are paying huge prices to people who know the art of getting others to listen without reasoning. The T-V commercials are filled with ideas which flow in such rapid succession and in so many attractive forms that the observer does not have opportunity to use his reason.

If we are to help man in his search for his real self we must know what hypnosis is, why it works, and what the power is that is set in motion through its use. There are many people - even professional hypnotists - who do not have a clear cut idea of hypnosis and how it works. They study and review over and over the various ways of inducing the hypnotic state and they marvel at the various phenomena which hypnosis produces. They get new ideas of things they are going to tryout when opportunity affords itself, yet they know little or nothing about just what takes place in the human personality when under the hypnotic influence.

In my philosophy we teach that every person is both an operator and a subject. Everyone who is able to think and reason as a normal, human being is able to learn the laws that govern his personality and thereby can be either an operator or a subject; or with this understanding can be both operator and subject at the same time, thereby practicing self-hypnosis. These principles should be taught to the masses so that everyone can know that he is capable of giving and receiving a hypnotic suggestion (concept) at will and thereby becomes his own master. It is high time that we were realizing that man is a complete entity within himself - a triune entity, who does not need to be enslaved by anyone. The sooner we teach people this, the quicker we will have a race of people who know how to be real selves and not puppets in the hands of anyone who happens to have authority or power over them.

The biggest battle in the religions of the world has been whether a man has aright to go direct to the Source of Omnipotent Power himself, or whether he has to channel his request through some authorized and accepted agent or agencies which claim to have a monopoly on the use of that Power.

We are all hypnotized to a degree - and in no place does this show up better than in the realm of our religion. Our religious beliefs are an indication of the degree of our hypnotism. We have to be that way, for we must of necessity inherit and accept some of the basic concepts of our forefathers, and religion is one of the most significant. This is true of all religions in the history of man: Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism, Bahaism Christian Science, etc., etc. And some who claim to be atheist may smile and say to themselves that they are free here and are not subject to the hypnosis of religion but they are - their hypnosis is to a DENIAL rather than to an ACCEPTANCE of the religious theories and ideas of those about them.

Yes, we are all victims of suggestion, - the sum total of the suggestions that have come to us from all of life. We have each been hypnotized to a slightly different degree, so to each of us life is an INDIVIDUAL PROPOSITION. In each one of us the POWER of the CREATOR is being released in a different way, depending upon the basic concept in our life. Only as one understands that can he help another to change and to become what he wants to be. An understanding of the true principles involved in hypnosis gives one the key to life.

Many religious healers today who would fight hypnosis do not realize that they are using its fundamental principles all the time. When I realized that Jesus was thoroughly familiar with the principles and practice of hypnosis it came as one of the greatest shocks of my life. Up till then I had accepted the idea about it that I had been taught, that it might be of the devil; but when I became aware that it was the means of releasing the very POWER OF GOD WITHIN and was the very method of Jesus, I was stunned.

To pray is to use the imagination. TO PRAY IS TO IMAGE. In praying one takes ideas and puts them together to make an image. Just as in building anything the builder has to take ideas and collect them together to make anything, a table, a hotel, etc. An architect takes ideas and puts them together to get an image in his mind (but he does not yet have a house - just an image); then he takes that image and reduces it to a thought-form, pattern, concept, or we would say in his terms, a blueprint (but he still does not have a house - just a blueprint of it) ; then he gathers the material substance - the things required on the physical plane - and has them put together according to the plan, and he has a house on the physical material plane. That is the process of creation that is always used regardless of who, when and how it is used.

This CREATIVE PROCESS was clearly demonstrated to me when I visited the General Motor's Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (Thursday, Oct. 16, 1953). The theme of this magnificent spectacle was entitled "Imagination in Motion". As the program climaxed showing how the Firebird automobile, new concept in automotive design, was conceived and developed or has evolved, I was all the more impressed with the truth of this theme - "Imagination in Motion", - for on the giant screen was illustrated the methods by which this new automobile became a reality-: first starting with IMAGINATION in the mind of its creators; next taking LOGICAL shape in the mind of the engineers; and finally going to the factory for PRODUCTION at the hands of the workmen. As I watched this the truth became more thoroughly fixed in my mind that this is an application of the creative process which has been used for all time, and it is applicable toward the creation of every thing, thought and act.

HYPNOTISM is the CREATIVE PROCESS in action, regardless of who practices it, when and how. Its principles involve all creation - so they will always be used whether the user is aware of it or not. It is the natural process of creation in operation and we only have to open our eyes to become aware of it. There may be limitations put upon certain forms of hypnosis but nothing can ever stop the mother from tenderly caressing her baby and thereby comforting the baby's mind. Nothing can ever stop the salesman from trying to sell his wares. All these activities in the normal life of humans are applications of the hypnotic principle. And as we become wiser we will see WAKING HYPNOSIS being used on every hand. It is the eternal plan of the Creator and we can be sure and safe in applying its principles and thereby become creators ourselves.

In what we refer to as HYPNOSIS the methods of the operator SIMULATE THE IMAGINATION of the subject. If stimulated sufficiently toward the idea of SLEEP, then, of course, deep sleep or SOMNAMBULISM occurs. But the stimulating of the imagination of the subject ( or the listener) is also what everybody else does when he has a listener. That's the method of the preacher, that's the method of the doctor, the teacher, the salesman, the mother, the young man in love, and everybody else. We are all trying to find ways of stimulating the imagination of our listeners to get them to think our way. And, of course, if we can logically get them to think our way it will naturally follow that they will act our way also. We are all acting as hypnotists in every way without knowing it.

The preacher collects ideas and builds an image in his mind. He passes this image on to stimulate the imagination of his subjects (congregation). (They are LISTENING intently or at least ought to be). The congregation (individual subjects) THINKS on it till it appears to be LOGICAL. That makes it LODGE in the subconscious and they are HOOKED with the image or idea. It then begins its manifestation through their acts.

Just to the degree that the operator stimulates the imagination of his subject, and is successful in projecting his image into the subject's mind is the effect he is building up produced. Of course some subjects may refuse to accept the ideas of the originator (the operator), and so they will not allow them to be executed through their bodies; but the principle is no less true; for in such a case the subject is trying to act as his own originator; or, in other words, he wants to be the creator of his own images and not allow anyone else to stimulate his imagination. The only way such a person can be changed is by the TEACHING process. He must be taught logically higher truths than he is aware of at the time. The creation of anything starts in the images which we make with and through the ideas we collect. God first created (we are told in the Bible) (Gen. 1:27) in HIS IMAGE. And we all do likewise. All creation or reproduction is the result of the action of an originative (imaging) male factor upon an executive (receptive) female factor, the product springing after a period of incubation directly from the executive (receptive female) factor or member. This is the LAW OF GENDER and it has been practiced in full force since the beginning of all creation" for everything that has been created fits well into its operation. Nothing can stop it for it is natural, universal, timeless truth-it is LAW.

As we study and practice hypnosis we are led to an understanding of this great law and the fundamental principles behind all creation, and thus we become CREATORS in our own right.

So as a minister I use the principle in my prayers,-when the listeners are turned to me and listening with their eyes closed. I do not have to tell them to relax and get comfortable and close their eyes for they have already learned to assume this position. Thus when they are listening to me I can help them in their problems of physical, mental and spiritual health. With my understanding of their problems I simply collect ideas of a positive nature and put them together to form a positive image that replaces the negative image they have formed by collecting ideas of a negative nature from their environment, education and heredity. As they are listening attentively and not thinking they are wide open to suggestion and thus I am in tune with the POWER WITHIN them that is and has been expressing through their lives. I just tell this POWER to express differently. I do it in the same way and with the same understanding that you give an order to a subject under hypnosis-for alter all, we are talking to the same INNATE INTELLIGENCE WITHIN. Thus I can guide and counsel the listeners to KNOW THEMSELVES better. I try to lead them thus to understand that everyone of us is a separate expression of the DIVINE POWER which is in all of us, and that POWER must of necessity express differently through each one. I try to release them from their enslavement to traditions, conventional opinions, and any limiting concepts that hold them down in a rut of discouragement. By teaching them the truth about the way their personalities function under the POWER WITHIN I help them to become free. As I understand it Jesus wanted all to be free when he said: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32). By inference the opposite to this is if you do not know the truth then you are enslaved by ignorance. You are hypnotized and you need something to help you become de-hypnotized or un-hypnotized or whatever the label is that you attach to it.